AN INTRODUCTION TO
PSYCHOLOGY OF
TERRORIST AND
SUICIDE TERRORIST
KEVIN BREWER
ANSWERS IN PSYCHOLOGY NO . 2
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5
PUBLISHED BY
Orsett Psychological Services,
PO Box 179,
Grays,
Essex
RM16 3EW
UK
COPYRIGHT
Kevin Brewer 2003
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
All rights reserved. Apart from any use for the purposes of
research or private study, or criticism or review, this publication
may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any
means, without prior permission in writing of the publishers. In the
case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms
of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK,
or in accordance with the terms of
licences issued by the appropriate organization outside the UK.
PREFACE
Attempting to explain the causes of terrorism, and
particularly suicide terrorism, is of great interest where such
behaviour appears quite common. The reasons for such behaviour are
complex and multi-factorial. In other words, there is no simple
catch-all explanation, though such an explanation is appealing.
It is also appealing to see terrorists as different from the
rest of society. In some ways, they are different to the majority of
people, but in others, they are just ordinary people doing extreme
things .
The aim of this booklet is to make use of psychological
knowledge generally to try and draw a picture of how ordinary people
can do such extreme things.
CONTENTS
Page number
INTRODUCTION 3
Defining Terrorism 3
Suicide Terrorism 4
Explaining Terrorism 6
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN TERRORISM 11
Mental Illness 11
Socially Marginalised Individuals 14
Personality 14
Individual Beliefs and Attributions 17
Fanaticism 20
GROUP FACTORS IN TERRORISM 2 3
Family 23
Role of "Recruiting Institutions" 23
Group Conflict and Social Identity 23
Social Influence 25
SOCIAL FACTORS IN TERRORISM 2 9
Poverty and Lack of Education 29
Social Support and Status 29
Social Construction of "Normal"
Behaviour 30
Ideology 30
Discourses 31
REFERENCES 3 4
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2
INTRODUCTION
DEFINING TERRORISM
Terrorism is not easy to define. It is also not easy
to distinguish it from political violence against a
repressive regime or from "revolutionary violence" (both
seen as legitimate forms of political violence) (Lodge
1981) .
Simply, terrorism is "violence for effect" and "Fear
is the intended effect, not the by-product" (Jenkins 1975
pl) .
Schmid (1983) performed a content analysis on 109
definitions of terrorism, and found 22 common elements.
Table 1 shows the most common elements in the
definitions .
MOST COMMON ELEMENTS PERCENTAGE OF DEFINTIONS
1. violence/force 83.5
2. political intent 65
3. fear/terror 51
4. psychological effects 47
5 . reaction 41.5
Table 1 - Five most common elements in definitions of
terrorism.
Aron (1966) noted that an "action of violence is
labelled as 'terrorist' when its psychological effects
are out of proportion to its purely physical result"
(pl70) . While Freedman (1986) emphasised the role of fear
that terrorism engenders in all civilians, through being
"extreme and ruthlessly destructive" (Wilkinson 1974) .
The "systematic use of coercive intimidation" can be
seen generally as "a specific method of struggle rather
than a synonym for political violence or insurgency"
(Wilkinson 1986) . This means that it can be used by a
variety of actors like "a kind of weapon-system".
Wilkinson (1986) notes five groups of participants
in the process: (i) the perpetrators of violence; (ii)
the immediate victims; (iii) the wider target group of
society who the terrorists seek to intimidate; (iv) the
"neutral" bystanders in society experiencing the
terrorism; and (v) international opinion.
The perpetrators of violence can be sub-divided into
(Wilkinson 1986) :
a) Nationalist terrorists seeking political self-
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 3
determination;
b) Ideological terrorists aiming to change the whole
political, social and economic system;
c) Religious fanatics wanting to overthrow a prevailing
religious order;
d) Single-issue fanatics who aim to change one area of
policy only;
e) State-sponsored international terrorists used by
countries as part of their domestic or foreign policy.
Other distinctions include "revolutionary" terrorism
(aimed at political revolution); "sub-revolutionary"
terrorism (for political motives other than revolution);
"repressive" terrorism (to restrain certain groups or
behaviour deemed undesirable) (Wilkinson 1974); or
"psychotic" terrorism (with uncertain or irrational
motivation, usually personal) (Bowyer Bell 1978) .
Schechterman (1987) adds forms of "irrational"
terrorism based on terrorists' own code of behaviour and
may be the only means of persuasion used. The "rational"
terrorist has assessed that violence is the last resort.
Merari (1978) distinguishes between Xenof ighters ,
who divert their activities against "foreigners", and
Homof ighters , who focus their terrorism on their own
people. What is important here is that the first grouping
has no need of the support of the target population, and
thus less concern about the scale of injuries inflicted.
SUICIDE TERRORISM
Suicide terrorism is more about the psychological
effect than the actual damage and injury, though these
should not be underestimated. It says quite clearly that
"we are willing to die for our cause".
This behaviour, the scale of recent acts of
terrorism, and the apparent willingness to use chemical
or biological weapons, has led to the phrase
" superterrorism" (Freedman 2002) .
Suicide attacks were used by Japan in World War II
with "kamikazi" pilots. More recently, the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eclam (LTTE) ("Black Tigers") used this
method in Sri Lanka. The suicide bombing of the US
embassy in Beirut in 1983 is seen as the beginning of
it's use in the Middle East ("Human Weapons" 2002) .
Of 270 suicide attacks between 1980 and 2000, 168
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 4
were carried out by LTTE, 52 by Hizbollah, 22 Hamas, and
15 PKK (Gearson 2002) .
Gearson (2002) distinguishes three main types of
suicide terrorists:
i) Groups who only use it on specific occasions, but
generally are not in favour of it;
ii) Groups that adopt it as a temporary tactic, and
establish legitimacy in their group for it;
iii) Groups that use suicide terrorism as a permanent
strategy .
In situations of extreme behaviour like suicide
terrorism, there is the immediate search for a simple
answer. One that makes the perpetrators different to the
norms of the rest of society is very appealing.
For example, after recent suicide bombings in
Israel, some parts of the media there have suggested that
the bombers had taken large quantities of drugs and
alcohol beforehand. But analysis of the remains of these
individuals have not found this to be the case (Silke
2003) .
Other everyday explanations of such behaviour
include mental illness and psychopathy.
To explain the behaviour as a sign of evil or by
"brainwashed pawns" is evidence of the fundamental
attribution error (Ross 1977) . This is the tendency to
explain other people's behaviour in a different way to
how we would explain our own behaviour in the same
situation. Usually it involves ignoring situational
factors for behaviour. Such attribut ional processes
make "the behaviour of others appear more predictable,
and apparently enhance our sense of control over the
environment" (Brewer 2003a p8) .
It is disturbing to think that such behaviour could
be performed by "ordinary" or "normal" people given the
right (or wrong) circumstances.
Pyszczynski et al (2003) writing about the events of
September 2001 in the USA point out that:
at the heart of things, all human beings are fundamentally
the same, with the same biological and psychological needs.
We are all members of the same species; our behaviour and
motivation can, therefore, be best understood through the
use of the same general biological and psychological
principles (pxi) .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2
EXPLAINING TERRORISM
Research has shown that extreme behaviour is not the
territory of individuals who are different, but is based
upon a combination of factors, including social ones.
Eyad Sarej has interviewed failed Palestinian
suicide bombers (reported in "Human Weapons" 2002) . A
combination of factors emerge from these interviews:
a) Talk of the injustice of the political situation
in Israel/Palestine;
b) The "pull" of Paradise as immediate reward for
the martyr, which includes being attended by "72 black-
eyed virgins";
c) Childhood trauma and witnessing humiliation; eg:
seeing beating of father by Israeli troops;
d) Taking a "paranoid position" that divides the
world into "them" (enemy) and "us"; ie : "they" are very
different to "us". There is no distinction within the
"enemy" between those who fight and those who do not.
Janke (1992) attempts to show the "making" of a
terrorist as a series of stages: dissatisfaction and
frustration with society; bonding with other like-minded
individuals; revulsion, alienation and isolation from
society .
Brewer (2003b) has proposed a synthesis model to
explain aggression, but it can be applied to terrorism.
The model contains two parts - the general level of
aggression, which is due to a combination of individual,
group, and social factors, and then the specific act of
aggression, triggered by environmental factors, and
involving disinhibit ion . The model is presented in figure
1. Figure 2 shows how this model can be applied to
explain violence in Northern Ireland by the Loyalist
and Nationalist terrorist groups.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2
DISINHIBITORS
SOCIAL LEVEL
GROUP LEVEL
ENVIRONMENTAL
TRIGGERS
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
Figure 1 - A synthesis model to explain aggression and
terrorism.
The model contains five groups of factors:
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 7
1. Individual factors
This group of factors relate to the individual, and
include beliefs and attributions, and their personality.
Attribution is the process by which the individual
makes sense of ambiguous situations, including their
perception of threats. Dodge (1986) talks of the "hostile
attribution bias" - the tendency to perceive the actions
of others as threatening and thus must be countered with
action. For example, accidentally bumping into a person
in a crowded situation is perceived as deliberate, and
therefore a challenge.
2 . Group factors
These are factors related to the groups that an
individual is part of, primarily the family and the peer
group. Here it includes the power of group pressure
(social influence), social identity, and the role of
"recruiting institutions" to terrorism.
3. Social factors
This group of factors are those causes of general
aggression that exist within society as a whole; eg:
social support and status of terrorists, ideology and
discourses about violence.
Generally we are talking about the social
construction of behaviour. Each society will have a
"normal" or "acceptable" level of aggression. Aggressive
behaviour is constructed within the "norms" of society;
ie : there are situations where it is acceptable to use
it .
For example, a survey, of 2000 14-21 year olds, by
the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust in Edinburgh in 1999,
found situations where both male and female respondents
felt it was acceptable for a man to hit a woman. One in
four men, and one in eight women, thought hitting a woman
could be justified if she had "slept with someone else"
(quoted in Brewer 2000) .
Wetherell and Potter (1989) looked at the protests
and fighting during the 1981 South African rugby team's
visit to New Zealand, and did discourse analysis on the
perceptions of the aggressive response of the police to
the protesters. The behaviour of the police was justified
in a number of interviews, and thus not labelled as
aggressive. For example, when:
a) the police were antagonised by protesters;
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 8
b) the police action was seen as a response to
earlier violence;
c) the police were seen as only doing their job.
4. Disinhibitors
The general level of aggression can be converted
into specific actions by the presence of factor (s) that
reduce the likelihood of not being aggressive. These are
known as disinhibitors, and include deindividuat ion,
dehumanisat ion of the "enemy", and the "normality" of
violence .
Deindividuat ion is the process by which individuals
feel anonymous, have a loss of self identity, and thus a
loss of restraint on their behaviour.
Deindividuat ion has been found with darkness (Gergen
et al 1973), disguises or uniforms (Zimbardo 1969), and
in crowds (Mullen 1986) .
However, deindividuat ion does not inevitably lead to
aggression. In the Gergen et al (1973) experiment,
participants were left in groups of strangers in a pitch
black room. Participants here tended to show a decline in
inhibitions and touched each other more than in a
normally lit room rather than becoming aggressive.
5. Environmental triggers
In certain situations, the individual's general
level of aggression will be triggered into specific
aggression. This will be due to certain things in the
environment at the time. The most common trigger for
terrorism is as retaliation or perceived retaliation.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2
GENERAL LEVEL
OF AGGRESSION
SPECIFIC ACT
OF AGGRESSION
SOCIAL FACTORS
eg history of conflict,
including past perceived
or real injustices;
social construction of
violence as "required
response" ;
fear of "enemy"
t
GROUP FACTORS
eg community identity
as Protestant/Loyalist
or Catholic/Nationalist
t
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
eg personal beliefs
about "enemy";
attributions about
social world ("just
world hypothesis")
t
DISINHIBITORS
eg: "normality" of violence;
dehumanising of "enemy"
t
ENVIRONMENTAL TRIGGERS
eg bombing/killing by "enemy"
Figure 2 - Example of the synthesis model of aggression
applied to terrorist violence in Northern Ireland.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist;
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2
Kevin Brewer; 2003
10
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN TERRORISM
MENTAL ILLNESS
A popular image of the terrorist focuses upon the
individual, and the idea that they are "crazed", or
psychopathic. Psychopathy is technical known as Anti-
Social Personality Disorder. The most important
characteristics being the absence of guilt or remorse,
and the lack of concern for others.
Psychopathy
Psychopath is a commonly used term, but the
technical meaning varies in law and psychiatry. Even
among professionals, psychopath is a disputed concept:
"'psychopathy' remains a stereotype or an ideal-type
personality rather than an accurate description of any
real individual" (Cavadino 1998) .
There are three different uses of the term
psychopath according to Blackburn (1993) :
i) A general term meaning "psychologically damaged";
linked to Personality Disorders generally in the
classification of mental disorders.
ii) Anti-Social Personality Disorder in the
classification of mental disorders.
iii) Specific personality traits - as measured by
Psychopathy CHecklist (PCL) .
Estimates vary as the prevalence of psychopathy.
Studies from the USA suggest about 3% of the population.
But the figures vary between 1% for women and 6% of the
population for men (Robins et al 1984) .
Not all psychopaths are involved in criminal
activities. In fact, the vast majority are found in
ordinary areas of life. In the business world, the
characteristics of a psychopath can produce a "ruthless
businessman" .
Anti-social Personality Disorder is defined as "a
pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of,
the rights of others that begins in childhood or early
adolescence and continues into adulthood" (APA 1994
p645) .
In the past, Anti-Social Personality Disorder was
distinguished by the fact that the individual is:
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 1 1
incapable of significant loyalty to individuals, groups,
or social values. They are grossly selfish, callous,
irresponsible, impulsive, and unable to feel guilt or to
learn from experience and punishment. Frustration tolerance
is low. They tend to blame others or offer plausible
rationalizations for their behaviour (APA 1968 p43) .
Diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder
requires evidence of three of more behaviours from a list
of seven (table 2) . The more behaviours evident the more
severe the condition.
ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
Three or more from following behaviours:
1. Illegal non-conformity
2. Deceitf ulness
3. Impulsivity
4. Irritability and aggression
5. Reckless disregard for safety of self and others
6. Irresponsible behaviour
7 . Lack of remorse
Diagnosis also requires evidence of the following:
A. Enduring pattern of these behaviours that deviates markedly
from cultural expectations
B. Enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across situations
C. Stable and long term patterns of behaviour
D. Not due to substance abuse or general medical condition
E. The individual is distressed by their behaviour
F. Behaviour not caused by another mental disorder
Table 2 - DSM IV (APA 1994) criteria for Anti-Social
Personality Disorder.
Focusing upon specific characteristics of
psychopathy. They include superficial charm, a grandiose
sense of self-worth, a low frustration of tolerance,
pathological lying and deception, a lack of sincerity,
remorse or empathy, and impulsivity (Hare 1980) .
The diagnosis of "criminal psychopathy" makes use of
a questionnaire known as the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-
R) . Originally produced in 1980, it was revised by Robert
Hare in 1991. There are 20 items (characteristics), and
during an unstructured interview, the individual is
scored by the interviewer as 0, 1 or 2 on each item. The
cut-off point is a score of thirty or above. Table 3
lists the twenty items.
Taylor (1988) quotes the example of Nezar Hindawi
who attempted to use his unsuspecting pregnant lover as a
suicide bomber on an El Al airliner in April 1986. The
bomb was discovered at the airport before take-off. The
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Glibness/superf icial charm
Grandiose sense of self worth
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Lack of remorse/guilt
Shallow affect
Callous lack of empathy
Parasitic lifestyle
. Promiscuous sexual behaviour
. Poor behaviour controls
. Early behaviour problems
. Lack of realistic, long term goals
. Impulsivity
. Irresponsibility
. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
. Many short term marital relationships
. Juvenile delinquency
. Revocation of conditional release
. Criminal versatility
Table 3 - Items of Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R)
girlfriend appears to have been used without knowing it.
Such apparently callous behaviour is seen as a
characteristic of psychopathy, but this is a relatively
rare example. The vast majority of terrorists are willing
participants .
Attempting to explain all terrorism through
psychopathy is unlikely: "Terrorism, like any other
serious undertaking, requires dedication, perseverance
and a certain selflessness. These are the very qualities
that are lacking in the psychopath" (Cooper 1978) .
But terrorist groups do "generate opportunities for
those who are prone to terrorist behaviour as a result of
psychopathic tendencies" (Janke 1992 pl85) .
Other Mental Illness Than Psychopathy
For some researchers, the appeal of the individual
explanation of mental illness, particularly in the case
of suicide attacks, is obvious. But there is limited
evidence for this explanation to account for all acts of
terrorism.
Rasch (1979) found no evidence of paranoia,
psychosis, or psychopathy among eleven individuals
suspected of involvement with the Baader-Meinhof group in
Germany .
Similarly, Ferracuti and Bruno (1983) could not find
"a general psychiatric explanation of terrorism" among
Italian terrorists studied. While Lyons and Harbinson
(1986), in their study of 106 individuals charged with
murder in Northern Ireland between 1974-84, noted that
the political murderers were more psychologically stable
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist;
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2
Kevin Brewer; 2003
13
than the non-political ones.
"Difficult though it is to accept, the vast majority
of all terrorist violence, even suicide attacks, remain
totally purposeful and, although rarely successful, are
undertaken with ends in mind" (Gearson 2002 p23) .
In fact, "recruiters" to terrorist organisations
would avoid such individuals because they could not be
trusted to carry out the plans as arranged.
Post (quoted in Ormsby 2003) studied 35 Palestinian
militants, and found that "level-headed and mentally
stable" were key characteristics when recruiting
terrorists. Planning and obedience to authority are
needed.
SOCIALLY MARGINALISED INDIVIDUALS
One everyday explanation of terrorism is that the
perpetrators are lone individuals on the margins of
society, who have no hope to live for. Apart from a few
exceptions, this appears not to be so.
This is no evidence that suicide bombers are
friendless, jobless, or possess suicidal symptoms; nor a
sense of hopelessness and nothing to lose (Scott Atran
quoted in Ormsby 2003) .
Interviews with members of groups in Egypt
affiliated to al-Qaeda found that most came from "stable
middle-class homes and were university educated" (Simon
and Benjamin 2001) . Russell and Miller (1977) noted that
two-thirds of members of 18 terrorist groups studied
between 1966-76 had some form of university training.
However, the Pakistani suicide bombers in Kashmir
were more likely to be from poorer families (Stern 2000) .
PERSONALITY
Studies of terrorist groups have attempted to
highlight the common characteristics. For example, the
political terrorists of the 1970s were statistical likely
to be single, male, aged 22-24, well educated, and from
middle-class families (Russell and Miller 1977) .
Unfortunately, this is of limited help because
terrorist groups are not homogeneous in membership
characteristics. It is difficult to identify predictors
of potential terrorists from individual characteristics
(Taylor 1988) . But it does help to paint the picture of
the terrorist as "ordinary people" in their society or
culture .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 14
Personality Theory of Hans Eysenck
Hans Eysenck's theory of personality is based upon
subtle differences in the central and autonomic nervous
systems of individuals. These physical differences
account for whether an individual will conform to social
rules or not. And it is this that determines who commits
criminal or terrorist behaviour. Thus the individual with
a nervous system that is less sensitive and excitable
will engage in crime.
For Eysenck's theory, personality is based on the
dimensions of extravert-introvert , and emotional-stable
(originally called neurotic-stable) (Eysenck 1967) .
Everybody is placed along these two dimensions, and they
combine to give four possible types: stable introverts;
stable extraverts; emotional extraverts; or emotional
introverts .
Eysenck felt that extraverts generally needed more
excitement and stimulation; thus they were more likely to
be impulsive and thrill-seeking, which could lead to
criminal behaviour.
Also Eysenck believed that extraverts do not learn
from past experiences easily. Extraverts by their biology
are thrill-seeking, and then do not learn to fear
punishment or learn from the past. So this is the way the
extravert is more likely to be a criminal.
Eysenck later added a third dimension called
psychot icism. Putting all the dimensions together,
Eysenck predicted that the criminal will be extravert,
emotional, and a high scorer on psychoticism (Eysenck
1977) .
There is inconsistent support for the extravert as
criminal. But there is support from a limited amount of
research for high psychoticism scorers and frequent
offending (Brewer 2000) . But once more this theory cannot
explain all terrorist behaviour.
Gray (1981) revised Eysenck's theory to focus on
anxiety and social withdrawal. Gray's theory has four
dimensions to the personality - extravert /introvert and
neurotic (anxious ) /stable from Eysenck, and adds
impulsive/controlled, and sociable/socially withdrawn.
So, for example, the criminal will be high on anxiety and
social withdrawal, while the psychopath is high on
impulsivity and extraversion, according to Gray.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 15
Authoritarian Personality Type
Is there a personality type that is more prone to
terrorism? It may not be possible to give a simple answer
to this question, but research has looked at a
"prejudiced personality type".
Adorno et al (1950), while testing the personality
of a large number of people in California, who were
white, non-Jewish, native-born, middle-class Americans
(ie WASP - white Anglo-Saxon Protestant), found them to
be "ant i-everything-except other WASPs".
The key characteristics were ant i-semet ism.
ethnocentrism (ie: focused on own ethnic group),
politically conservative, and authoritarian (eg: belief
in absolute submission to authority) . These
characteristics together became known as the
"authoritarian personality".
Such individuals had experienced rigid and harsh
childhood punishment, which made them intolerant of
anything that was different.
Psychodynamic Explanations of Personality
Psychodynamics is based upon the work of Sigmund
Freud. His explanation of adult behaviour concentrates
upon childhood experiences, particularly traumatic, which
are pushed into the unconscious mind. Though they cannot
be remembered, these experiences will still influence
behaviour .
In Freud's theory all children are born with the id
dominant. This is the part of the personality that is
concerned with instinctive desires and pleasures. In time
the ego develops, and comes to dominate the personality.
The ego is the socialised part of the personality (ie: it
is aware of socially acceptable behaviour) . For some
individuals, this process does not occur and the process
of "latent delinquency" takes over. Thus the emphasis
is placed upon the early emotional relationships of the
child, usually with the mother.
However, Freud did not specifically write about
criminal behaviour. Alexander and Healy (1935) adapted
his idea's to explain the criminal as unable to progress
from the pleasure principle (instant gratification of the
id dominated person) to the reality principle (with the
ego dominant) . Furthermore, the criminal may be
subliminat ing (ie: acting out) in crime their lack of
early emotional ties. Again the emphasis is upon the
early relationships of the child.
Fields (1979) suggests that early exposure to
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 16
terrorism in Northern Ireland can lead to the development
of adult terrorist behaviour. But simply childhood
experiences leading to adult behaviour is not
psychodynamics . There needs to be a mechanism by which
the repressed behaviour manifests itself in adulthood.
Furthermore, Heskin (1980) sees social deprivation
and more general prolonged exposure to violence in
Northern Ireland as the causes of social unrest.
By far the strongest supporter of the link between
early relationships and crime was John Bowlby. He argued
that juvenile delinquency was an inevitable consequence
of the long term separation of the child from the mother.
In his best known study (Bowlby 1946) of 44 juvenile
thieves and 44 "disturbed adolescents" (ie: non-
delinquents), he found that 39% of the former group had
experienced complete separation from their mothers for
six months or more in the first five years of their
lives (compared to 5% of the non-delinquent group) .
Generally there are many criticisms with this work.
But specifically, Kellen's (1979) study of four
terrorists in the 1970s (two German, one Croatian, and
one Japanese) found no particular pattern of childhood
experiences .
Typical psychodynamic mechanisms to explain
terrorism motivation generally include repressed hate
from parental abuse (Kent and Nicholls 1977) or the
"blockage of functional empathy" (Clark 1980) .
There are many and varied psychodynamic-based
explanations, but they suffer from a lack of specificity,
and the problem of "why it is that so few people exposed
to the presumed generating conditions of terrorism
actually become terrorists" (Taylor 1988 pl46) .
INDIVIDUAL BELIEFS AND ATTRIBUTIONS
Perceived injustice by the "enemy", and the belief
that they must suffer in return is a strong motivation
for terrorism. Silke (2003) argues that anger and a sense
of outrage are key, and many Palestinian suicide bombers
have had relatives or friends killed or injured by
Israeli armed forces. Thus the role of revenge combined
with feelings of powerlessness , particularly in the face
of overwhelming odds.
One immediate explanation after September 2001 was
the USA had it coming:
Some asserted that American foreign policy, driven by greed
and the lust for ever-expanding influence and power, wrecked
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 17
havoc throughout the Middle East and led to the justifiable
rage that motivated the suicide bombers
(Pyszczynski et al 2003 pl44)
Whether this is true or not about US foreign policy,
it is the belief about the USA that matters in how
individuals make sense of the world.
Just World Hypothesis
Psychologists talk about the "just world hypothesis"
(Lerner 1980) . This is the belief that the environment
"is a just and orderly place where people usually get
what they deserve" (Lerner and Miller 1978) .
The classic experiment to show the "just world
hypothesis" is by Jones and Aronson (1973) . They wrote a
number of scenarios about a woman being attacked by a
stranger. The participants reading the stories were more
likely to blame the victim for their misfortune in
certain circumstances. For example, the woman was
described as a virgin in one version of the story, or as
wearing provocative clothes in another version. In the
latter case, the victim was blamed more for her attack.
Paradox of Morality
How the world is viewed allows the terrorist to
claim moral superiority (or purity) while belittling the
victim as deserving it. Taylor (1988) calls this the
"paradox of morality" . Other forms of denial are also
used. This is known as "guilt transfer" (Tugwell 1982) .
Sykes and Matza (1957) have proposed five techniques
of "neutralisation" or denial which allow individuals to
deny their actions are wrong or harmful:
i) Denial of responsibility (eg: blaming their
upbringing) ;
ii) Denial of injury to victim;
iii) Denial of victim (ie: victim deserves it);
iv) Condemnation of condemners (ie: critical of
criminal justice system) ;
v) Appeal to higher loyalties (eg: religious
beliefs) .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 18
Cognitive Dissonance
Another psychological process that aids the "paradox
of morality" is known as the theory of cognitive
dissonance .
Cognitive dissonance is an explanation put forward
by Festinger (1957) to account for attitude changes. When
two "cognitions" are inconsistent, the individual is
motivated to resolve this.
A well-known example is of a smoker who believes
that "smoking causes cancer". This is a situation of
inconsistency, which Festinger argued causes
"psychological discomfort". The "sensible" option would
be to stop smoking, but that is fixed, so the individual
must change their attitudes about "smoking causes
cancer" .
This can be done in a number of ways:
• by belittling the evidence about smoking and cancer;
• convincing others to smoke;
• building an image around no fear of cancer;
• smoking low-tar cigarettes;
• associating with other smokers.
Another example of cognitive dissonance is the
situation where individuals do something in order to gain
a reward, but the reward is then not given after the
individual has done that task. This causes inconsistency:
the individual worked for the reward, but there was no
reward .
The fact that the individual worked for the reward
cannot be changed, so the motivation is what can be
changed. The individual comes to believe that they worked
for their own satisfaction, and so subsequently are more
enthusiastic about the task now there is no reward. What
this shows is that individuals are quite illogical in
their behaviour (Brewer 2003d) .
Festinger et al (1956) first noted this phenomena of
cognitive dissonance while studying a small group in USA
who believed that the world would end, and they (the
believers) would be saved and taken to the planet
"Clarion" .
The believers met at the appointed time (as set by
"prophecies" given to the leader, Marion Keech) , but no
spaceships came to collect them. After this event, the
individuals were told (by another "prophecy") that their
"good works" had stopped the destruction of the world.
The believers, then, became more enthusiastic to gain new
members .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 19
Logically if an event is proved to be untrue,
individuals should lose interest. But a lot of effort was
involved leading up to the "end of the world", and this
is hard to deny. Thus it is easier to believe that they
were right, and seek others to bolster their endangered
beliefs. If lots of people believe the same thing,
individuals feel that they cannot be wrong.
Aronson and Mills (1959) call this "effort
justification" . The more effort it takes to gain
something, but that something is not as great as expected
the more cognitive dissonance will exist. To resolve
this, the individual will increase their liking for what
they have gained.
Cognitive dissonance has also been found in two
other situations:
1. Post-decision
Following a decision for two equally desirable
objects, and the individual is forced to choose one.
Cognitive dissonance produces the situation where the
individual highlights all good points of their object and
all the bad points of the other objects.
2. Counter-att itudinal behaviour
If individuals voluntarily perform a behaviour that
is opposite to the attitudes held, this also produces
cognitive dissonance.
FANATICISM
Another common explanation for terrorism is that
they are fanatics. Fanaticism is assumed to be a set of
undesirable characteristics and an over-riding focus on a
particular issue or issues that the rest of the
population do not have.
But the characteristics of fanaticism are applauded
in sport speople, for example (Eckman 1977) . However, with
the sportsperson this behaviour would be seen as
commitment or dedication because fanaticism is a negative
term applied "to the state of mind of those who are
wholeheartedly committed to a set of beliefs and are
condemned for it" (Milgram 1977) .
The main characteristics of the fanatic include a
clear, rigid world-view, and an unwillingness to
compromise about it. There will be prejudiced attitudes,
and a particular understanding of the world.
An example of fanatic behaviour would be self-
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 20
immmolation (Crosby et al 1977) . This is suicide by
setting fire to oneself, and is not the same as suicide
bombing, which aims to injure others. The behaviour here
is injury to the self only as a form of political
protest. It is quite rare, particularly in the West, and
was used on occasions as part of the peace movement in
the 1960s and 70s in the USA (Taylor 1988) . In a way,
this is not really terrorism because it does not injure
others. The same is true for hunger strikes. Thus it is
possible to be a fanatic without being a terrorist.
Prejudiced attitudes
The view of the "enemy" who is to be attacked can be
seen as rooted in prejudice.
For Allport (1954), there are five levels of
prejudice :
1. anti-locution: hostile talk about /towards the
prejudiced group;
2. avoidance: keeping a distance and not mixing with
the prejudiced group;
3. discrimination: unfair treatment of group
members ;
4. physical attack;
5. extermination: the ultimate level of prejudice is
to want to remove the prejudiced group from existence.
This has sometimes been called "ethnic cleansing" in
recent years .
Prejudice is not just about holding particular
attitudes which lead to certain behaviours. Prejudice
actually influences an individual's perception of the
world. In a classic experiment, Hastorf and Cantril
(1954) showed that watching the same American Football
match, supporters of each team will attribute less fouls
to their team, and more to the opponents (even though
both teams committed the same number) . This process also
involves the stereotyping of the enemy.
Stereotyping influences behaviour in a number of
ways :
i) recall information better that fits the
stereotype;
ii) influences how we behave towards others;
iii) affect the perception of our own group.
Researchers have shown the same news programme about
Middle East issues to pro-Israel and pro-Arab students.
Both groups saw the programme as bias against them. So we
are talking about a distortion in perception that needs
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 21
to be addressed while attempting to reduce prejudice
(Brewer 2003c) .
The basic principles of learning suggest that
children observe others expressing prejudiced attitudes
or doing prejudiced behaviour, and then copy it (social
learning theory) . This may explain how specific attitudes
or actions are transferred within families, but not more
general attitudes or behaviour.
Other factors are also involved, like the media.
Pratkanis and Aronson (1991) report how at the start of
the Gulf War in the 1990s, Saddam Hussein was unknown to
most Americans, and through classical conditioning
(associating) his picture with that of Hitler, negative
attitudes were formed.
DEHUMANISING "ENEMY"
At the extreme levels of prejudiced behaviour, the
key is that the prejudiced group is dehumanised. The
psychological erasure of human qualities in others; thus
misperceiving them as "sub-human" or "non-human".
Increased aggression against dehumanised groups has
been shown in a lab experiment (Bandura 1986) .
Participants had the opportunity to give electric shocks
to male students during a decision-making task.
Beforehand, the participants overheard the experimenter
talk about the students as intelligent ("the humanising
condition"), or as rotten ("the dehumanising condition")
The average number of electric shocks given in the
"humanising condition" were 2.5 compared to 6.0 in the
"dehumanising condition" .
A dehumanised group can easily become the scapegoat
for people's troubles and frustrations. For example, the
USA is often called the "Great Satan" by some Islamic
sects, and thus the mere existence of the enemy becomes
the source of all problems rather than the actual
political and economic conditions.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 22
GROUP FACTORS IN TERRORISM
FAMILY
Many families are not aware that one of their number
is involved in terrorism. Most would want to stop them,
but there are cases where the support of the family is a
contributing factor. Silke (2003) notes a Hamas
(Palestinian group) video from 2002, where the suicide
bomber's mother (Naima) appeared alongside her son
(Mahmoud al-Obeid) supporting the action.
ROLE OF "RECRUITING INSTITUTIONS"
"Recruiting institutions" are looking for candidates
to join or use in terrorist groups. There will be a
training process that encourages commitment and loyalty
to the cause or better still, the cell (small group) .
This gives a strong sense of in-group superiority and
exclusivity within the group.
Apart from occasions when individuals work alone,
suicide terrorism is well organised. Thus a structure of
support is needed: recruiters of candidates, scouts for
potential targets, guards and drivers of bombers, and
bomb-makers (including explosive technicians,
electricians, and metalsmiths) (Vallis 2003) .
GROUP CONFLICT AND SOCIAL IDENTITY
The realistic group conflict theory attempts to
explain inter-group rivalry and competition. This theory
by Sherif and Sherif (1969) is based on their work with
ingroups and outgroups in three projects in the 1940s and
1950s in the USA. They argue that antagonism arises as a
result of the conflict of interests; ie : both groups want
the same goal, but cannot have it. This leads to ingroup
(own group - "us") favouritism and outgroup
discrimination ("them") . For Sherif and Sherif, it is the
immediate social situation that produces the conflict.
The Sherif s ' research used 11-12 year-old boys at an
isolated summer camp. The boys were from similar social
backgrounds. On arrival at the camp, the boys were
allowed to make friends, then they were divided into two
groups (eg: "Red Devils" or "Bulldogs") . The researchers
made sure that best friends were separated.
The research manipulated two key variables of group
conflict :
i) Strong group identity through group name and
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 23
flag;
ii) direct competition for scarce resources between
the two groups .
Very clear prejudice and hostility developed between
the two groups (eg: stealing and burning the flag of the
other group) . Later in the projects, the researchers
worked to reduce the prejudice.
Tajfel and Turner (1979) link group conflict to an
individual's self identity. The self concept includes
identification with our social groups and comparison with
other such groups. The social group may be transitory
(eg: group standing at bus stop) or more permanent social
distinctions (eg: gender) .
The basis of the social identity theory is the
tendency to classify people and things into categories,
which leads to an exaggeration of the differences. Tajfel
and Wilkes (1963) asked participants to judge the length
of groups of lines either labelled (eg: A or B) or
unlabelled .
There was a tendency to judge the labelled lines as
similar (eg: lines within group A) and exaggerate the
differences to other groups, even though this was
inaccurate. Stereotypes can also be involved in this
process .
At the same time as categorising behaviour,
individuals search for positive self-esteem by assessing
their social groups as "better" than others. It feels
good to belong to the best group, whatever that group may
be. What this means is that ingroup bias can occur
without a strong group identity and direct competition as
Sherif and Sherif believed there needed to be. It is the
mere perception of the existence of another group that
matters. This is known as the minimal group effect.
The original and main study is Tajfel (1970) . Using
64 14-15 year-old Bristol schoolboys, they were randomly
allocated to one of two groups (for example, by
preference for abstract paintings by Klee or Kandinsky;
or tossing a coin) . There was no reference to group
identity: the individuals were anonymous, and doing the
experiment in individual cubicles. There was no obvious
self-interest involved.
The boys were then asked to allocate points as
rewards to different individuals for no particular
reason .
It was found that the majority of boys gave greater
rewards to individuals in their own groups ie they used
"maximum ingroup profit" and "maximum difference"
strategies .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 24
Though this study is an artificial experiment,
Reicher (1984) found that social identity was important
in explaining behaviour in the rioting in the St. Paul's
area of Bristol in 1980.
This approach tends to see conflict as an inevitable
part of social life. Individuals will form social
identities, and thus be prejudiced against the outgroup
to increase their own self-esteem.
However, Wetherell (1982) has found that cultural
norms are an important variable. She produced a
replication of Tajfel (1970) in New Zealand with white
and Polynesian children. The latter children were more
generous with their rewards to the outgroup (ie: "maximum
joint profit" strategy) . This is because generosity to
others is a strong Polynesian cultural norm.
SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Conformity to group pressure
It is possible to change an individual's behaviour
through the pressure of others. This does not have to
involve to force or coercion. The individual may change
their behaviour because they come to believe in the cause
( internalisat ion of group norms; Kelman 1958) or simply
to outwardly conform while privately disagreeing.
Individuals sometimes conform to the majority when
they personally disagree. This is normative conformity.
Here individuals are outwardly conforming because they
want to be rewarded for doing so or do not want to be
rejected by the group for not conforming. This is
"situational conformity" only (Moxon et al 2003) .
The best known research on conformity was carried
out by Asch (1951) . Using simple perceptual tasks, Asch
was interested to see if individuals would publicly
conform to the obvious wrong answer when they knew the
correct answer.
The participants were tested in a small group of
around six people. In each case, there was only one
participant, the other members of the group were
confederates of the experimenter told to give the wrong
answer at certain times. The participants did not know
this. There was pressure to conform to the majority
giving the wrong answer.
Overall, an average conformity rate of 32% was
found. Further research by Asch and others have shown
which factors influence conformity to the majority
(tables 4 and 5) .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 25
FACTOR MOST CONFORMITY LEAST CONFORMITY
size of group 7:1 1:1
status of group members high low
difficulty of task lines very similar lines not similar
"deviant" in group "deviant" changes "deviant" does not
mind and then conform
conforms
public or private public private; eg: writing
conformity face-to-face down answer
Table 4 - Factors found by Asch that influence
conformity .
SITUATIONAL FACTORS
- uncertainty of group task increases conformity
- individual and the group: greater conformity to the majority if
the individual expects future interactions with the group;
or is strongly attached to the group (commitment); and/or do
not feel completely accepted by the group (ie: insecurity
about position in the group) .
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOURCE OF THE INFLUENCE
- group appears knowledgeable
- group's attractiveness to individual: greater attractiveness
means greater conformity
Table 5 - Factors affecting conformity.
Conformity to role (identification)
In some situations, individuals conform to the
social expectations of the particular roles they are
playing. This is known as conformity to role or
identification. This involves a much wider amount of
conformity. In other words, conformity on all of the
individual's behaviour (Moxon et al 2003) .
Conformity to role is best seen in the Stanford
Prison Simulation (Haney et al 1973) .
Twenty-two male volunteers were chosen to take part
in a prison simulation. They agreed to play the role of
"prisoner" or "prison guard" (chosen at random) for 14
days in a mock jail built. The volunteers were given few
instructions on how to behave or what was expected. Those
volunteers chosen were judged to be most stable, mature,
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 26
and least involved in anti-social behaviour. This is
important - the volunteers were "normal" men, and did not
have psychological problems .
The "prisoners" became passive and showed negative
emotions. The "guards" were active in the interactions
with the prisoners, and, though no physical aggression
was permitted, but there was verbal aggression. The
"prisoners" were belittled and humiliated by
"psychological games", like making the prisoners clean
the toilets with their bare hands.
The simulation was terminated unexpectedly after six
days. Haney et al (1973) note: "The extreme pathological
reactions which emerged in both groups of subjects
testify to the power of the social forces operating"
( P 60) .
This research is important because it shows the
power of the situation and role expectations upon
behaviour .
Obedience to authority
This is compliance to the demands of an authority
figure. There is less opportunity to resist as with
requests from ordinary people. It is the abdication of
personal responsibility due to social power and status of
the authority figure in the social hierarchy (Moxon et al
2 03) .
The classic work was by Stanley Milgram, who set up
an experiment that would involve obedience to an
authority figure to apparently harm (or even kill) a
complete stranger.
Forty male volunteers aged between 20 and 50 years
were chosen for the first experiment (Milgram 1963) . The
participants were not aware that the experiment was a
"set-up", for them everything appeared to be real.
The participant was shown a machine with gradings of
electrical shocks of 15 volts from to 450 volts. They
were told that if the "learner" in the next room failed
on a series of memory tests, the "learner" should be
given increasing electric shocks as punishment.
The participant believed that the machine is real
because they were given a mild electric shock as part of
the testing of the machine. So Milgram had set up the
situation thus: would an ordinary man give increasing
punishment to a stranger in the next room because an
experimenter in a white coat told them to do so? The
maximum voltage of 450 would easily kill a person.
Psychiatrists predicted before the experiment that
0.1% of people would obey until 450 volts (ie: 1 in 1000
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 27
people) .
In the first experiment, of the 40 men, 26 obeyed to
450 volts. Nobody stopped before 300 volts, which is
still probably enough to kill someone. Thus the level of
obedience (ie: to 450 volts) was 65%.
Milgram's original findings were a surprise to him,
so he set about trying to discover the exact variables
involved in obedience. Over the following ten years from
the original experiment, he ran another twenty different
experiments .
The reason why individuals obey in such situations,
and do things that they would not usually do, like harm
to a complete stranger without provocation is due to a
number of factors in the situation.
Firstly, obedience occurred in small steps rather
than one off. Gibson and Haritos-Fatouros (1986) study of
Greek soldiers who were convicted of torture shows that
they began slowly. For example, being asked to hold the
victim down, later to kick them and so on. This easy
graduation went with dehumanizat ion of the victim, and
social support of society and the government for their
behaviour .
Another key factor in obedience is the presence of
the experimenter in a white coat (uniform) which
signalled that he was "legitimate authority".
Individuals are socialised into obeying "legitimate
authority", whatever is asked. This produced the demands
of the situation and social roles established by the
authority figure. Much of social behaviour is based upon
fulfilling social roles with "social contracts".
Disobedience would disrupt this process.
Finally, the authority figure takes responsibility
for the outcome.
An American soldier, William Calley, was tried for a
massacre at Mi Lai in Vietnam. His defence was based
around simply following orders (quoted in Kelman and
Hamilton 1989) .
The work of Milgram is so important because it
"challenges the myth that evil lurks in the minds of evil
people - the bad they who are different dispositionally
from the good us who would never do such things"
(Zimbardo 1992 p592) .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 28
SOCIAL FACTORS IN TERRORISM
POVERTY AND LACK OF EDUCATION
"Common sense would dictate that there is a direct
correlation between poverty and terrorism; yet the
evidence gathered thus far does not lend credence to this
proposition, and if anything, supports the opposite" (von
Hippel 2002 p26) .
For suicide terrorists like September 2001 in the
USA, they were neither poor nor uneducated. "If poverty
really were the root cause of terrorism, more terrorists
would come from the poorest part of the world, sub-
Saharan Africa; and this, so far, is not the case" (von
Hippel 2002 p26) .
Furthermore, Wilkinson (1977), talking about groups
like the Baader-Meinhof gang in West Germany in the
1970s, noted that "much of the politically motivated
terror in liberal democracies for the past decade has
been committed by the spoilt children of affluence"
(p93) .
SOCIAL SUPPORT AND STATUS
Behaviour that is supported by a society and given
high status becomes important in that society. For
example, in Palestine after a suicide bombing, posters
of the bomber are put up in the street to honour them.
The family of the bomber are congratulated and looked
upon with high status in society. The newspapers announce
the death in a positive way as a marriage to "72 black-
eyed virgins". At school, poems are written and read to
celebrate such events (Ormsby 2003) .
Stern (2000) found similar elevation of status of
families of Pakistani suicide bombers in Kashmir, and the
families also received financial help to start businesses
or build new homes. These can be called the "mechanisms
of social approval" (Centre for the Study of Terrorism
2002 quoted in Vallis 2003) .
"Al Manar TV" in Lebanon shows the videos of suicide
bombers in Israel to produce a "culture of martyrdom".
This is crucial in overcoming the prohibition on suicide
generally in Islam with that of "heroic martyrdom"
("Human Weapons" 2002) .
Practical help in the form of money has been found
in Pakistan (Kashmir), Eritrea (against Ethiopia), and
for Kosovar Albanians (von Hippel 2002) . The Iraqi
Government of Saddam Hussein was said to pay families of
Palestinian suicide bombers 25 000 dollars in March 2002
(Keller 2002) .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 29
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF "NORMAL" BEHAVIOUR
What is acceptable or "normal" is constructed by
social events and forces. Where violence or terrorism are
everyday aspects of life, this can produce a new form of
"normality". For example, a suicide bombing when rare is
a strong political weapon, but if it becomes too common,
it can be an end itself. It becomes a normal occurrence
and part of everyday life.
The eroding of boundaries between military and civil
is evident in World War II with the British bombing of
German cities. Thus the unlimited boundaries of what can
be done to defend the cause. Robert Lifton calls this
"apocalyptic violence" ("Human Weapons" 2002) . The fact
that this example is during an "official" war is no
different to terrorists who believe that they are
involved in a war. The justification of behaviour links
to its "normality" and acceptability.
IDEOLOGY
A common belief is that strong ideology, often
religious, has "brainwashed" the individuals into the
terrorist behaviour. Certainly there is evidence of this
in some situation - both explicit "brainwashing", and the
implicit pressure of group members.
Berthillier and Vaillot (1998) produced a film which
studied religious cults that committed terrorism and/or
suicide. One group is "Aum" in Japan, four members of
which released toxic nerve gas on the Japanese
underground in 1995. A number of key factors emerge from
this group:
a) An ideology that emphasised the constant threat
(actual or created) from outside, usually the Government,
which encouraged cohesiveness within the group;
b) Thus the need for preparation for "war";
c) Apocalyptic prophecies that encourage a state of
fear;
d) The denial of death as the end, but seen as a
means of being reborn;
e) Overt "brainwashing"; eg: followers locked in
cells for days with only a non-stop video of the leader;
f) Punishment for disobedience; eg: "bad" followers
put into boiling water.
However, it is important to note that among
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 30
Palestinian suicide bombers, they are not necessarily
uneducated individuals who have been "brainwashed" .
Surveys of Palestinian society shows that middle-class
and higher educated individuals showed the greatest
support for "suicide tactics". In December 2001, a
survey of 1375 West Bank and Gaza Palestinians of 18
years or older compared the views of educated and
uneducated. Those of good education (12 years or more of
schooling) showed 50% more support for armed attacks on
Israel compared to poorly educated individuals
(illiterate) . Increasing education was negatively
correlated with supporting dialogue with Israel (Krueger
and Maleckova 2003) .
But wealthy Pakistanis, supportive of attacks in
Kashmir, preferred to "donate their money than their sons
to the cause" (Stern 2000) .
A common misinterpretation is that religious
ideology, particularly Islamic, is key to the
participation in suicide terrorism. However, the LTTE in
Sri Lanka "pioneered" the method of suicide bombing, and
they did not have religious motivation (Gunaratna 2000) .
But, for those who are religious, martyrdom is
exchanged for a place in Paradise directly in some
Islamic cults .
DISCOURSES
Acts of behaviour have to be justified to the self
and to others. In a sense, discourses are the shared
beliefs of the individuals and their community or
society: "some discourses or constructions of the world
are so familiar that they appear as 'common sense'"
(Marshall 2002) .
Language is seen as a social process itself, rather
than just a means of communication. For example, the
words chosen are not neutral but tell us something about
the social world.
Wetherell and Maybin (1996) give three features of
language use which challenge the assumption that language
is neutral :
i) Language has an "action orientation" - utterances
state information, and perform an action. In an argument,
individuals are not just stating opposite facts, but are
using language to justify their position and undermine
the other's. We are doing something with our utterances.
ii) Language is part of the social world - rather
than language simply telling us about the social world;
it is a "constitutive part of those actions, events and
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 31
situations" (Wetherell and Maybin 1996 p244) .
iii) Indexical property of discourse - all language
is defined by the context of its use.
The whole emphasis is away from language as
referring to objects "out there" to the idea that
language is about building the social reality. The same
event can be described in a number of different ways. It
is always possible to see how the choice of words can
influence the whole understanding of an event. For
example, during a news report, the use of words like
"murdered", "killed", "slaughtered" - all set the context
for understanding the perpetuators as good or bad. Potter
and Wetherell (1987) use the example of "terrorist" or
"freedom fighter". Taken a step further, with our
language we are also defining ourselves.
Use of Discourses to Defend Extreme Behaviour
In the BBC programme "Loyalists: War and Peace"
(1999), a former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member,
Bobby Morton, justifies the murder of six Catholics as
retaliation for the killing of the UVF leader in June
1994.
Peter Taylor (interviewer) (PT) : That was cold-blooded
murder, what else is it?
Bobby Morton (BM) : I call it retaliation which is not
quite the same thing.
PT: But you end up with dead Catholics who are innocent
BM: In retaliation for dead Protestants who are laying
on the Shankhill Road. Yes, I can do it.
PT: But that doesn't justify the death of innocent
Catholics, does it?
BM: If you are sending out a message to the IRA that
if you kill a Protestant someone is going to pay
for this here, now it may be crude; it's vicious,
but the end may well justify the means.
Thus the perpetrator of the killing is able to
explain the murders as justifiable, and even necessary
within the shared world-view of his supporters.
Another example where individuals justify their
behaviour by referring to the discourses in society for
support is prejudice. One of the most common discourses
used is "national identity" or "nationalism" .
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 32
Cashmore (1987) interviewed a number of individuals
in the West Midlands, and showed how prejudiced attitudes
are embedded within the logic of defending "English
culture". Cashmore quotes the example of a white company
director who justifies his anti-immigration views through
such discourses and ideas. The individual's prejudiced
comments are embedded in arguments that link to the
shared meanings that are obvious to the listeners.
The director says, for example, "there's a lot who
come in just to draw the dole". Here he has linked to a
number of shared meanings :
a) England cannot afford to pay everybody benefits;
b) I work hard for my money and do not want to
subsidise "lazy" people;
c) "they" are trying to take advantage of our
welfare system;
d) "they" are trying to take what is mine;
e) such behaviour is not right.
Thus his prejudiced attitudes appear entirely
rational by this logic. He says in other words, I am just
doing what everybody does and protecting myself, my
family and my country (Brewer 2003c) .
In the case of suicide bombing in Israel, the
perpetrators are defining it as an act of national self-
defence for Palestine or a way of shaping the future for
their children (Vallis 2003) . These discourses are quite
"normal" and acceptable to most people, but it is the
action that follows from this that is not acceptable.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 33
REFERENCES
Adorno, T.W; Frenkel-Brunswick, E; Lewinson, D.J & Sanford, R.N (1950)
The Authoritarian Personality, New York: Harper & Row
Alexander, F & Healy, W (1935) Roots of Crime, New York: Knopf
Allport, G.W (1954) The Nature of Prejudice, Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley
APA (1968) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorder (2nd
ed) , Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association
APA (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorder (4th
ed) , Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association
Aron, R (1966) Peace and War, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Aronson, E & Mills, J (1959) The effect of severity of initiation on
liking for a group, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 177-181
Asch, S.E (1951) Effect of group pressure upon the
modification and distortion of judgments. In Guetzkow, H (ed) Groups,
Leadership and Men, Pittsburg, PA: Carnegie Press
Bandura, A (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action: Social
Cognition Theory, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Blackburn, R (1993) Clinical programmes with psychopaths. In Howells, K
& Hollin, C (eds) Clinical Approaches to Mental Disordered Offenders,
Oxford: Pergamon
Bowlby, J (1946) Forty-Four Juvenile Thieves: Their
Characters and Home-Life, London: Bailliere, Tindall & Cox
Bowyer Bell, J (1978) Transnational Terror, Stanford, CA: AEI-Hoover
Institute
Brewer, K (2000) Psychology and Crime, Oxford: Heinemann
Brewer, K (2003a) Psychology of Social Cognition: A Brief Introduction,
Orsett, Essex: Orsett Psychological Services
Brewer, K (2003b) A synthesis model to explain aggression, Orsett
Psychological Review, 10, June, 10-18
Brewer, K (2003c) Psychology of Prejudice: A Brief
Introduction, Orsett, Essex: Orsett Psychological Services
Brewer, K (2003d) Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change: A Brief
Introduction, Orsett, Essex: Orsett Psychological Services
Cashmore, E (1987) The Logic of Racism, London: Allen & Unwin
Cavadino, M (1998) Death to the psychopath, Journal of Forensic
Psychiatry, 9, 1, 5-8
Clark, K.B (1980) Empathy: a neglected topic in psychology research,
American Psychologist, 35, 2, 187-190
Cooper, H.H.A (1978) Terrorism: the problem of the problem of
definition, Chitty ' s Law Journal, 26, 3, 105-108
Crosby, K; Rhee, J & Holland, J (1977) Suicide by fire: a contemporary
method of political protest, International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 23,
1, 60-69
Dodge, K (1986) A social information processing model of social
competence in children. In Perlmutter, M (ed) The Minnesota Symposium of
Child Psychology, Hilsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 34
Eckman, B (1977) Fanaticism in sports, Etcetera, 34, 64-70
Eysenck, H (1967) The Biological Basis of Personality, Springfield, II:
Charles . C . Thomas
Eysenck, H (1977) Crime and Personality (2nd ed) , London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul
Ferracuti, F & Bruno, F (1983) Psychiatric aspects of terrorism in
Italy. In Barak-Glantz , I.L & Huff, C.R (eds) Aggression in Global
Perspective, Elmsford: Pergamon
Festinger, L (1957) A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, New York: Harper
& Row
Festinger, L; Riecken, H.W & Schachter, S (1956) When Prophecy Fails,
Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press
Fields, R.M (1979) Child terrorism victims and adult
terrorists, Journal of Psychohistory , 7, 71-75
Freedman, L (1986) Terrorism and strategy. In Freedman, L; Hill, C;
Roberts, C; Vincent, R.J; Wilkinson, P & Windsor, P (eds) Terrorism and
International Order, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Freedman, L (2002) Introduction. In Freedman, L (ed)
Superterrorism: Policy Responses, Oxford: Blackwell
Gearson, J (2002) The nature of modern terrorism. In
Freedman, L (ed) Superterrorism: Policy Responses, Oxford: Blackwell
Gergen, K; Gergen, M & Barton, W (1973) Deviance in the dark,
Psychology Today, 7, 129-130
Gibson, J.T & Haritos-Fatouros, M (1986) The education of a torturer,
Psychology Today, November, 50-58
Gray, J. A (1981) A critique of Eysenck's theory of
personality. In Eysenck, H.J (ed) A Model of Personality Berlin: Springer
Gunaratna, R (2000) Suicide terrorism: a global threat, Jane's
Intelligence Review, 12, 52-55
Haney, C; Banks, W.C & Zimbardo, P.G (1973) Interpersonal dynamics in a
simulated prison, International Journal of Criminology and Penology, 1, 69-
79
Hare, D.R (1980) A research scale for assessment of
psychopath in criminal population, Personality and Individual Differences,
1, 111-119
Hare, D.R (1991) The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, Toronto:
Multi-Health Systems
Hastorf, A.H & Cantril, H (1954) They saw a game: a case study, Journal
of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 49, 129-134
Heskin, K (1980) Northern Ireland: A Psychological Analysis, New York:
Columbia University Press
Janke, P (1992) (ed) Terrorism and Democracy, Basingstoke: Macmillan
Jenkins, B (1975) International Terrorism: A New Mode of Conflict, Los
Angeles : Crescent
Jones, C & Aronson, E (1973) Attribution of fault to a rape victim as a
function of responsibility of the victim, Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 26, 415-419
Kellen, K (1979) Terrorists - What Are They Like? How Some Terrorists
Describe Their World and Actions, Santa Monica: Rand Corporation
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 35
Keller, B (2002) Springtime for Saddam, New York Times, 6/4, pA15
Kelman, H.C (1958) Compliance, identification and
internalisation : three processes of attitude change, Journal of Conflict
Resolution, 2, 51-60
Kelman, H.C & Hamilton, V.L (1989) Crimes of Obedience, New Haven, CT:
Yale University Press
Kent, I & Nicholls, W (1977) The psychodynamics of terrorism, Mental
Health and Society, 4, 1-2, 1-8
Krueger, A & Maleckova, J (2003) Education, poverty, political violence
and terrorism: is there a causal connection? Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 17, 4, 119-144
Lerner, M.J (1980) The Belief in a Just World: A Fundamental Delusion,
New York: Plenum Press
Lerner, M.J & Miller, D.J (1978) Just world hypothesis and the
attribution process: looking back and looking ahead, Psychological Bulletin,
85, 1030-1051
Lodge, J (1981) Introduction. In Lodge, J (ed) Terrorism: A Challenge
to the State, Oxford: Martin Robertson
Lyons, H.A & Harbinson, H.J (1986) A comparison of political and non-
political murderers in Northern Ireland, 1974-84, Medicine, Science and Law,
26, 3, 193-198
Marshall, H (1992) Talking about good maternity care in a multi-
cultured context: a discourse analysis of accounts of midwives and health
visitors. In Nicolson, P & Ussher, J (eds) Psychology of Women's Health and
Health Care, London: Routledge
Merari, A. A (1978) A classification of terrorist groups, Studies in
Conflict and Terrorism, 1, 3-4, 119-144
Milgram, S (1963) Behavioural study of obedience, Journal of Abnormal
and Social Psychology, 67, 371-378
Milgram, S (1974) Obedience to Authority, New York: Harper & Row
Milgram, S (1977) The social meaning of fanaticism, Etcetera, 34, 1,
58-61
Moxon, D; Brewer, K & Emmerson, P (2003) Heinemann Psychology AS for
AQA A, Oxford: Heinemann
Mullen, B (1986) Atrocity as a function of lynch mob
composition: a self-attentional perspective, Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 12, 187-197
Ormsby, K (2003) Notes from research for presentation for "Foundations
of Behavioural Studies" course, Anglia Polytechnic University
Potter, J & Wetherell, M (1987) Discourse and Social
Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour, London: Sage
Pratkanis, A.R & Aronson, E (1991) Saddam Hussein: the Hitler we
"know". In Coats, E.J & Feldman, R.S (eds) Classic and Contemporary Readings
in Social Psychology (2nd ed) , New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Pyszczynski, T; Solomon, S & Greenberg, J (2003) In the Wake of 9/11:
The Psychology of Terror, Washington DC: American Psychological Association
Rasch, W (1979) Psychological dimensions of political terrorism in
Federal Republic of Germany, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2,
1, 79-85
Reicher, S (1984) St. Paul's: a study in the limits of crowd behaviour.
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 36
In Murphy, J et al (eds) Dialogues and Debates in Social Psychology, London:
Routledge
Robins, L.N et al (1984) Lifetime prevalence of specific psychiatric
disorders in three sites, Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 949-958
Ross, L (1977) The intuitive psychologist and his
shortcomings: distortions in the attribution process, Advances in
Experimental Social Psychology, 10, 173-220
Russell, C.A & Miller, B.H (1977) Profile of a terrorist, Studies in
Conflict and Terrorism, 1, 1, 17-34
Schechterman, B (1987) Irrational terrorism. In Slann, M &
Schechterman, B (eds) Multidimensional Terrorism, Boulder: Lynne Rienner
Schmid, A (1983) Political Terrorism, New Brunswick:
Transaction Books
Sherif, M & Sherif, C (1969) Social Psychology, New York: Harper & Row
Silke, A (2003) Ultimate outrage, Times, 5/5, T2 p7
Simon, S & Benjamin, D (2001) The terror, Survival, 43, 4, 5-18
Stern, J (2000) Pakistan's jihad culture, Foreign Affairs, 79, 6, 115-
126
Sykes, G & Matza, D (1957) Techniques of neutralisation: a theory of
delinquency, American Sociological Review, 22, 664-673
Tajfel, H (1970) Experiments in intergroup discrimination, Scientific
American, 223, 96-102
Tajfel, H & Turner, J.C (1979) An integrative theory of intergroup
conflict. In Austin, W.G & Worchel, S (eds) The Social Psychology of
Intergroup Relations, Monterey, CA : Brooks/Cole
Tajfel, H & Wilkes, A (1963) Classification and quantitative judgment,
British Journal of Social Psychology, 54, 101-114
Taylor, M (1988) The Terrorist, London: Brassey's Defence Publishers
Tugwell, M.A.J (1982) Guilt transfer. In Rapoport, D.C & Alexander, Y
(eds) The Morality of Terrorism: Religious and Secular Justifications, New
York: Pergamon Press
Vallis, L (2003) Essay for "Approaches to Deviant Behaviour" course,
Anglia Polytechnic University
von Hippel, K (2002) The roots of terrorism: probing the myths. In
Freedman, L (ed) Superterrorism: Policy Responses, Oxford: Blackwell
Wetherell, M (1982) Cross-cultural studies of minimal groups:
implications for the social identity theory of intergroup relations. In
Tajfel, H (ed) Social Identification and Intergroup Relations, London: Sage
Wetherell, M & Maybin, J (1996) The distributed self: a social
constructionist perspective. In Stevens, R (ed) Understanding the Self,
London: Sage
Wetherell, M & Potter, J (1989) Narrative characters and accounting for
violence. In Shotter, J & Gergen, K (eds) Texts of Identity, London: Sage
Wilkinson, P (1974) Political Terrorism, London: Macmillan
Wilkinson, P (1977) Terrorism and the Liberal State, London: Macmillan
Wilkinson, P (1986) Trends in international terrorism and the American
response. In Freedman, L; Hill, C; Roberts, C; Vincent, R.J; Wilkinson, P &
Windsor, P (eds) Terrorism and International Order,
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 37
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Zimbardo, P (1969) The human choice: individuation, reason and order
versus deindividuation, impulse and chaos. In Arnold, W & Levine, D (eds)
Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press
Zimbardo, P.G (1992) Psychology and Life (13th ed) , New York:
HarperCollins
FILMS
Human Weapons (2002) Discovery Channel
Killer Cults (1998) Berthillier, C & Vaillott, E
Loyalists: War and Peace (1999) BBC Television
An Introduction to Psychology of Terrorist and Suicide Terrorist; Kevin Brewer; 2003
ISBN: 978-1-904542-15-5; Answers in Psychology No.2 38